In more than 40 episodes spanning 75 years, equity and bond fund investors have defied predictions that they would panic and spark crises. Yet banking regulators won’t let go of their “run” scenario. Why?

Donald Trump: Without the US, the French would be speaking German

PARIS — U.S. President Donald Trump took several potshots at Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, saying that in France "they were starting to learn German before the U.S. came along" during both World Wars.

In response to Macron's call for a "true European army," Trump wrote on Twitter: "Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia. But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two — How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!"

The tweet, and others that followed, was "made for Americans," according to the office of the French presidency.

Trump's tweet is his second over the past five days that accuses Macron of suggesting European nations need more robust militaries to protect themselves from the U.S., a mischaracterization of what the French president actually said. Macron, in an interview with Europe 1, suggested that Europe needs to better position itself militarily against an increasingly aggressive Russia.

Macron also lamented a U.S. decision to withdraw from a treaty with Russia that prohibited the manufacture of intermediate range nuclear missiles. The "main victim" of that move, Macron said, is "Europe and its security."

“I believe in the project of a sovereign Europe. We won’t protect Europe if we don’t decide to have a true European army," he said. “We have to have a Europe that can defend itself alone — and without only relying on the United States — in a more sovereign manner."

“We should protect ourselves when it comes to China, Russia and even the United States of America," the French president also said, alluding to the decision to pull out of the missile treaty with Russia.

Trump has repeatedly called for NATO allies to rely less on the U.S. for their defense and has railed against nations that he says do not put enough of their gross domestic product toward defense spending. Trump has regularly demanded that NATO countries increase their defense spending to a higher percentage of their GDP, forcing the issue at last summer's NATO summit by seeming to threaten to pull the U.S. out of the pact if spending targets were not met.

Macron, in his interview, agreed that Europe should become less dependent on the U.S. for its military.

The office of the French presidency said Trump's tweets were "made for Americans." Speaking to BFMTV, a spokesperson for the French presidency declined to comment on the series of tweets but added: "There is a link between the president of the Republic and Donald Trump.

"Beyond tweets, what matters to us is that they speak several times per week about the problems in the world," the spokesperson was cited as saying.

The French ambassador to the United States, Gérard Araud, said that Trump had mischaracterized Macron's comments about a "real European army," the remark that sparked Trump's ire. "For the sake of truth, Pres. @EmmanuelMacron didn't say that EU needed an army 'against the US.' It was an erroneous press report."

French people on Twitter pointed out that Trump was criticizing Macron on the third anniversary of the Bataclan terror attacks in Paris.

The Trump-Macron relationship, which began with warm words and long handshakes, has gone sour.

Just after landing in Paris on Friday, Trump took to Twitter to call Macron’s comments “very insulting,” adding a new layer of tension to the weekend’s ceremonies, although the two leaders discussed the issue during Trump’s visit.

“Never easy bringing up the fact that the U.S. must be treated fairly, which it hasn’t, on both Military and Trade,” Trump tweeted after he returned to the U.S.

The pair held a meeting on Saturday morning to smooth over their differences but Macron also went on CNN — the U.S. cable network that Trump loathes — and gave an interview in which he said that while Europe should spend more on defense, he did not want the money going to purchases of American weapons and other hardware.

Macron also gave a speech Sunday, saying “Patriotism is the opposite of nationalism,” which could have been taken as a rebuke of Trump declaring himself to be a “nationalist" in the run-up to the recent U.S. midterm elections.

Red, red whine

The U.S. president — who owns vineyards but is a non-drinker — tweeted: "France makes excellent wine, but so does the U.S. The problem is that France makes it very hard for the U.S. to sell its wines into France, and charges big Tariffs, whereas the U.S. makes it easy for French wines, and charges very small Tariffs. Not fair, must change!"

The EU — and not France — decides common external tariffs for products such as wine for every country in the bloc. Still, the president's statement echoes longstanding frustration from the U.S. wine industry regarding market access in the European Union.

Trump added: "The problem is that Emmanuel suffers from a very low Approval Rating in France, 26%, and an unemployment rate of almost 10%. He was just trying to get onto another subject. By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people-and rightfully so!"

Trump wasn't finished with his Twitter rant and addressed criticism that he missed events over the weekend because it was raining. "By the way, when the helicopter couldn’t fly to the first cemetery in France because of almost zero visibility, I suggested driving. Secret Service said NO, too far from airport & big Paris shutdown. Speech next day at American Cemetary in pouring rain! Little reported-Fake News!"